Monday, October 3, 2016

One Pot Creamy Pumpkin Pasta (& Coffee Giveaway)!

This delicious post brought to you by Carolina Charm partner Bruegger's Bagels. Giveaway at the end of the post!
Almost every Saturday morning Caroline and Matt go on a daddy-daughter bagel date together down the street at Bruegger's Bagels. And as a faithful bottomless mug member, I stop to fill my mug with pumpkin spice coffee each morning on my way into work and sometimes even get a refill in the afternoon at the location next to my office. So I guess you can say we are pretty big Bruegger's fans in our house. So when Brugger's contacted me to review one of their products I already love I was beside myself!
I received a tub of pumpkin cream cheese and instead of just smearing it on my bagel per usual, I decided to get a little creative and whipped up a creamy one pot pumpkin pasta recipe. Three reasons you should make this immediately: 1. PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE! 2. My kids ate it and loved it and 3. you only dirty ONE pot! Sold yet?
One Pot Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
Ingredients
16 ounces pasta noodles (I used penne)
1 small onion, diced (3/4 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced (1 1/2 tsp)
4 cups vegetable broth
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 TBS butter
6.5 oz Bruegger’s pumpkin cream cheese, room temperature
salt and pepper to taste
parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. In a deep skillet, add noodles, onion, garlic, vegetable broth, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir to combine over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir and simmer for 4-5 more minutes, or until pasta is al dente. 2. Add butter and cream cheese cubes, stir continuously until the cheese is melted and incorporated. 3. Serve and top with parsley if desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The entire meal takes 15 minutes to throw together for my family dinner. Well, 17 minutes if you count the time it takes for the kiddos' pasta to cool on their rapid cooling dish!
Cool-It Plate // Munchkin Miracle Sippy Cups // Bella Tunno Wonder Bibs: flamingo/dinosaur
And now....for a giveaway! Bruegger's has graciously offered to give away a $10 Bruegger's Bagels gift card to TWO readers! Enter using the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Photobucket

Facebooktwitterpinterestinstagrambloglovin

Friday, September 30, 2016

A Baby #3 Sprinkle

Last weekend we sprinkled one of my besties Lisa for baby #3! She is due in just a few weeks with baby girl LMB and we are all so excited! A few pictures from her shower...
Me + the Mama!
There were 12 girls who attended and we enjoyed a delicious mimoas brunch!
The prettiest 35 week pregnant mama!
Photobucket

Facebooktwitterpinterestinstagrambloglovin

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Update on Thomas!

I wanted to pop in with a quick update on Thomas! Yesterday our little man had a very successful strabismus surgery. We were home by lunch and our loopy Thomas took a very long nap and woke up back to himself - running around, inhaling packets of food and searching the house for his sissy. His eyes are still very bloodshot but we can already see a tremendous improvement in his alignment. Also, a surprise to us, our doctor re-inserted his contacts at the conclusion of surgery so Thomas can see! We were really worried about him not being able to wear his contacts during recovery but our doctor felt confident that Thomas would do okay with them in.
Also, I mentioned how worried I was about how Thomas would do missing breakfast since he wakes up hangry and to my surprise he did terrific. He was so distracted at the hospital with all the lights, noises, machines, doctors, nurses and patients that he didn't even notice he missed his favorite meal. Also, the night before his surgery Caroline helped us pack a bag of all their favorite toys so he could have them at the hospital. It was so sweet watching her meticulously pick out the things they love to play with most -- the drill, a cell phone, stuffed animals, her old purple paci and more.
We are so grateful for a 4th successful surgery for Thomas and for all of the prayers! I cannot believe that between Thomas and Caroline we have FIVE infant hospital gowns in our collection. Crazy. But we are beyond thankful with how far we've come in this journey with Thomas and are excited for the future. Off to his surgery follow up appointment this morning...
Photobucket

Facebooktwitterpinterestinstagrambloglovin
Blogging tips